No turning back
by Kristena2018
Summary: It was two o'clock AM, and they were driving in the middle of nowhere. Elsa was happy to be with Jack, but something was setting him on edge, why? If only she'd known the price of the answer. [Jelsa one shot. Tragedy][Modern AU]


**Hey guys!**

**So this was the one shot I had been talking about on my profile. I was going through my homework assignments, (saved on my laptop) and as I was searching for these, I found this story. I had written this in grade 9 but never got a chance to publish it, as I never really wrote it's ending.**

**This is actually my very first attempt on writing angst. Normally, I tend to write fluff and humor etc. Plus it's my first one shot and the longest chapter I have written in one sitting.**

**Before we jump into this one shot, I would like to thank acochran for proof reading my work and for helping me out with some details, such as deciding a proper title and a summary. **

**(WARNING: This one shot is supposed to be tragic.)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

She snuck a glance outside her room. The coast was clear. Taking it as a cue, she stepped outside the entrance of her room.

Her heart was beating as hard as a drum, but she tried to ignore the adrenaline rush that had started to invade every nerve of her. Her brain told her to stop and go to the bed at this hour, however Elsa was a creature who never listened to her parents, listening to her brain instead.

Her parents usually slept around 11 at night, however her sister-Anna-was the real problem here. The strawberry blonde was a late sleeper, just like Elsa was. It had been a problem convincing her to go to sleep early that night. Apparently the 15-year-old had other plans for her soon-to-be-wed sister.

According to Anna's wish list: they were to spend the entire night talking and cuddling with each other, sharing their best and worst memories of their lives. Anna even begged her to recount her first encounter with her future hubby, however, Elsa being the eldest sibling; straight away rejected her sister's offer.

Though she felt bad for lying to her sister under the pretext of wanting to acquire her beauty sleep a day before her wedding-which would be the next day; she had to do this. She loved her sister dearly and would have been more willing to spend the entire night with her, even if they had been following the same routine for the last month. Dark circles were beginning to encircle her beautiful baby blue orbs, but she ignored it for the sake of the love for her sister.

Thankfully, Anna was the most understanding person to ever exist on the entire planet. She did protest a bit but after noticing her sister's wearied face, she nodded with a sad smile and apologized for her selfishness, for keeping the twenty-four-year-old up for the past month.

After tucking Anna into her bed, Elsa waited till Anna fell asleep, leaving after placing a light kiss on her forehead.

Inching her way towards the hallway, and silently tiptoeing on the staircase, she successfully accomplished the mission of not waking anyone up.

She hissed when she felt her phone vibrate and cussed under her breath when she viewed the name of the caller.

'Impatient fool', she thought and rolled her eyes in annoyance; tapping the red icon visible on the screen of her phone. She drew in her breath and made her way to the door. Quickly fumbling with lock of the door, not forgetting to grab her house keys that hung on the hook in the kitchen (as it was more accessible for everyone, there), she stepped outside the warmth of her home and was greeted by the cool breeze that awaited her.

There he was.

The mere sight of his back, made Elsa smile. His white hair swayed like fresh green grass in the mid of summer. The resemblance would have been fair if only there wasn't any stark contrast in the color of the grass and his hair. His hair was like fresh fallen snow and were more radiant then ever under the light of the full moon.

He turned around just in time, only to realize a pair of arms were encircling his waist like a lifeline. Elsa buried her face in his blue sweatshirt. The fragrance of his clothes, felt as if she had finally come home. She felt his hands-which were hesitant at first-holding the small of her back, relaxing a bit, as she further delved her face into his shirt.

Their lovely embrace was soon broken by his voice.

"Let's go El, now is not the right time for this."

His abruptness did startle her a bit, but she knew it was for the best. Quickly letting go of each other, they got into the car. Jack started the engine of his car, while Elsa, who was sitting on the passenger seat, motioned for him to fasten his pace. They soon pulled out of Elsa's neighborhood, and headed out in the direction they were destined to take that night.

* * *

"What took you so long? you called me at around 12 to pick you up. It's 2 right now." Jack gave Elsa a side glare, only to find her fidgeting with the buttons of the radio. She kept on scrolling, paying least attention to the guy who was now glancing at her in amusement. When she finally heard her favorite song being played on the stereo, she sighed in satisfaction.

"I had to wait till everyone was asleep. Anna wanted to spend some time with me before the wedding, so I guess that explains it."

An incomprehensible look flashed across Jack's face, which went unnoticed by Elsa who kept on talking nonchalantly. He tried his best to masquerade his expressions.

"That dude sure is a lucky guy…"

Elsa blushed at the mention of her Fiancée and awkwardly shook her head, making Jack frown. "It's actually the other way round. Any girl would dream of having a 'Tadashi' type of guy in her life. So, in a way, that makes me more luckier." She smiled. Her rosy cheeks glowed as she tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"Care to give a solid reason for calling me in the middle of the night?" He changed the topic and tried not to look at her by keeping his attention on the road, but he didn't fail to admire how beautiful she looked that night, even though it was dark.

"Jack! I wanted to celebrate my bachelor's party with you! and you can't stop grumbling like a fat 80-year-old woman. You owe me this, okay? I wouldn't have woken you tonight, if only you'd shown up at my engagement"

Jack rolled his eyes, "For the thousandth time, if it wasn't for my job, I would have taken the first flight to Florida to attend 'your engagement'." He made a gestured a quotation mark with his free hand. "Secondly, I thought bachelor's party is a guy thing? Did you have your gender transplant or something?"

" You're such a sexist! You're taking me to our childhood tree house, and that's final."

Jack gave her an incredulous look. " You want me to drive you to a forest packed with animals, at 2 AM in the morning?! Since when did you join Hitler's party? "

She lolled her head lazily, "For a man, you sure can be a scaredy cat at times."

Jack huffed in annoyance. He tried his best to cover up his deflated ego, "Whatever nerd. Suit yourself"

"Oh look who's talking?" Elsa shot back.

She was right. Apparently, the childhood best friends had remained valedictorians throughout the course of their lives. Jack was a year senior to Elsa. Regardless of a year's age gap, both were able to form strong bonds of friendship, during their primary education. Their thirst to be the best in school had helped them earn scholarships in every single class.

Aside from some similarities they shared together, they were as different as the patterns formed on the snowflakes. Jack had always been a reserved person, who cared much about what people thought of him. All he ever wished for, was to make his parents, his siblings, and his teachers proud. It was as if his happiness was dependent on the people who were around him. He aspired to become a lawyer, since his cradle days and was now a proud lawyer, with a happy family.

On the other hand. Elsa was the total opposite of Jack. Being raised in a carefree environment, she was the person you would rarely come across. Her bubbly and cheerful demeanor easily made her the apple of everyone's eyes. She was adored. Jack was respected. She had many friends, while he had a few loyal ones.

Her beauty and kindness was unparallel to all the girls who studied in high school. He even got into fists fights with guys who catcalled her.

Jack still remembered the day they had officially introduced each other. The duo had taken an instant liking towards each other, when they had first been paired in a science competition. Their humor, talents sarcasm, and interests, fit together like two puzzle pieces. Since then onwards, Elsa spent most of her recess with Jack. Their friendship gradually grew stronger day by day, until they were almost inseparable.

After graduating from High school, Jack was offered a scholarship to, a prestigious law college abroad. Elsa on the other hand, entered the Engineering college of her dreams and stayed in their hometown: Florida.

He vividly remembered all the details of how he first broke the news to Elsa. She was shocked, happy, and sorrowful-all the emotions in a nutshell. When she came to see him off at the airport, her eyes and nose were cherry-red, and her hair was strayed in every direction. That was the moment when Jack first realized that he was in deeply in love with her, to the point where there was no turning back. For a second, he felt a spark that was about to ignite him. A spark that wanted to burn the plane tickets, and to hold her in his arms for life. However, he was quick enough to stop himself from doing something stupid, This was his decision after all-he had to stick to it.

4 years passed in a blur. Of course, he had a lot of fun with his new college friends and learned lots of new things, went to different parties, drank all night; but nothing in this world gave him the happiness that Elsa gave him. By every tick of the second hand of the clock, his desperation to see Elsa in person, rose to the degree that he had to cry himself to sleep.

He was homesick.

Time flies by, and it is then that you realize that nothing is as brutal as time is. After graduating with honors, he booked the first flight to Florida. That was probably the happiest day of his life. He surprised his parents by the unexpected visit. Their expressions were priceless.

After a good family reunion, he decided to surprise Elsa as well. The twenty-five-year-old literally climbed up her window, just to check on her. Call him Romeo or whatever. After safely gaining his footing on the windowsill,

he glanced up to check but she was nowhere to be seen.

That moment he laid his eyes on her, his heart skipped a beat. He knew the emotion that he was feeling at that moment. It was something more powerful than love itself.

She was sitting in the corner of her room, studying some notes (from the looks of it), paying no attention to the intruder who had been staring at her for the last five minutes. She was too engrossed to even notice the small thud that Jack made in the process of climbing her window.

His sole desire to taste her lips was about to overtake him, but he refrained.

That night sure was a long night. Not only was he peppered with kisses on the cheeks by a certain platinum blonde, but he also got to receive the news which ultimately shattered his heart.

She met Tadashi in college and fell in love.

Those were the minor details that preoccupied Jack's mind for the entire year, till her engagement.

When he returned home that night, he felt sick. The rest of the memories of the past year, were a haze. He tried to limit his contact with Elsa, dropped at pubs late at night and didn't leave the damned place till it was late morning, every week. Nothing interested him. Not even his profession, which had once been his dream. He blamed himself every night, for moving out of Florida.

But the past was past. If he was the able to go back in time, he would have been the most famous person alive.

* * *

"Spill the beans Frost! who's the lucky girl?"

They were currently driving through the forest, searching for their childhood tree house. Although they remembered the exact location of it, it was still dark, which made it a hard search, as both of the fellows had never come to this place at night-time.

While Jack had been too preoccupied in keeping his eyes on the road, Elsa had found another way to entertain herself, as her partner in crime was awfully quite that night. She rummaged through the drawer of her dashboard, only to find a few pieces of junk (as Elsa called it) and a blue velvet box.

That immediately caught her attention. She quickly picked it up and started to toy with it. She decided to open and was greeted with the sight of a beautiful ring. Though, simple in design, the diamonds and sapphires made it more attractive.

Jack gulped by the suddenness of her question.

"It's your wedding gift El. "

Elsa made gave an 'Aww' and thanked him, before she began with her interrogation. "How were you able to afford this. This is really expensive. Even when I went to mall to look for Tadashi's ring, I was shocked when I found out its price."

Jack gritted his teeth in annoyance. Did she always had to mention his name after every single minute?

"price doesn't matter sweetheart." He stated bitterly.

Elsa was quick to notice the edge in his voice. She decided to probe beyond. "Is it me, or are you unusually quite these days?" The worry was evident in her voice, but she tried to cover it up with a small laugh to lighten the atmosphere.

"It's you." Jack replied nonchalantly.

Elsa found it really tempting to retort back, but decided against it. She, however, was sure that something had been troubling Jack. Normally, they would sit back, relax and talk for hours and hours, and never grew tired of the presence of each other's company. He had been acting weird since he first heard the news of her relationship with Tadashi.

"Jack, you know you could always trust me, right? I'll always be there for you."

Jack nodded, silently.

"Is it my wedding? Is that troubling you?"

Elsa could hardly make out Jack's expressions in the dark. The hesitant shake of head (a gesture that said 'no') as well as his grip on the steering wheel (judging by the color change of his knuckles), further confirmed Elsa's suspicion.

"I'm not buying it."

"Then don't!" Jack raised his voice. Couldn't she let him be?

That wasn't enough to stop Elsa. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"It's Tadashi isn't it? You don't like him, do you?"

The car screeched to halt. If they weren't in the middle of nowhere, Jack was sure that he would have been fined for it. The abrupt halt, sent both of them flying forward but luckily they had been wearing seat belts.

"GOD DAMNIT, ELSA! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"

He was shaking in rage. Now fully facing her from his driver's seat, he glared at her with an intensity that made Elsa's stomach churn. She was already squished up in her seat from the impact of her body with the car seat. She looked at his glazed eyes. It was the first time she realized how upset he was.

Jack sighed and rubbed his hands on his face. Without thinking, he quickly unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. He wanted some fresh air to clear his clogged mind.

She gulped. Turning around to check on him from the back window, she watched how he kicked the car tire. She had to do something, but what could she do? She regretted pissing him off, but it was for the best. She could never bear to see her brother-like best friend in such a terrible mood. She bit her lip, as she tried to think about the next move she was about to make. She was still curious about the reaction he gave when she asked him about Tadashi. Did Tadashi have something to do with Jack?

As curious as she was, she decided to confront Jack once and for all; she got out of the car as well. He was standing at the edge of the road, from where the path to the forest started. His back was facing her, due to which she was unable to make out his expressions.

"Jack, you didn't answer my q—?"

"Why didn't you stop me from going?" He cut her off.

Elsa cocked her eyebrow as she eyed him. Where was he going with this?

"Going where?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." and after noticing Elsa's blank stare, he added, "Going abroad." He was, glaring daggers at her. He sure was in a bad mood.

"Why would I? It had been your dream to study in that Law school. I never wanted to come in between you and your dreams."

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He started pacing back and forth, tension evident in every movement that he made. Elsa was tired of his games. She had been trying for a very long time. Trying to confront him about his estranged demeanor, but all he could ever think of, was to push her away. It annoyed her.

"You know what? I shouldn't have asked. Get back in the car when you're ready. Drop me home, it's getting late. We shouldn't have come here in the first place."

That was it. She gave up. She had no other option. As frustrating as it was, Elsa didn't want to push him. However, she was not very happy about the fact that he had been hiding things from her. Whatever it was, she knew that it had something to do with the wedding. If Elsa was fortunate enough, she might get something out of him on their way back home. It was pure blackmail, but that's the way life works. She closed her eyes, and turned around, making her way towards the car.

"I love you Elsa!"

She froze mid track.

"I love you. I have loved you since the very first time I laid my eyes on you."

It was as if they had been practicing a play script. Both of them turned around in unison.

"Loved you when you first asked me to give you a hand in fixing the head of our robot, back in grade 4."

Elsa's breath hitched

"Loved you when you cried at the airport when I was departing." He added bitterly, averting his gaze toward the log that lay on the outskirts of the road.

"Elsa Mathew Rendell, I love you, and I'll continue loving you till my last breath. Even after you pass away on someone else's bed. Even if I hate myself for loving you to the point of devotion. You should be rest assured that my mind, body and soul; belong to you"

His passionate words had brought tears into his eyes. The hope in his words was still evident. He wanted her to change her mind. To come back to him.

"Jack..." Was all that Elsa could muster. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but to no avail. His confession had shocked her. It was until she called his sweet name from her lips, that she realized that she was on the verge of tearing up.

"Please don't say anything El, please...I don't want you to break my heart. Let's part ways from here onwards. I'll try to keep our sweet memories alive till my demise. Even try to imagine our happy ending after this confession."

"Jack, I love you. I—!"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence when Jack's head shot up. His heart began to beat against his chest. His eyes sparkled under the light of the moon and were filled with mixed expressions. Most of all happiness, that had never reached Jack's eyes in the past five years, was now engulfing him like the warmth of a lover's embrace.

In a few strides, he closed the gap between them, by crashing his lips on hers, pouring all the love that he had for her. He closed his eyes in satisfaction. He yearned to taste the flavor of her lips. Craved to feel her body this close to his, for he had wanted to touch her for a very long time. His ran through her long, silky strands, which happened to stop above her hips. He felt her kissing back, which made him smile into the lips, tilting his head to deepen the kiss to the extent that he accidently gnawed her lower lip. His thirst for having more of her, was stopped by a frail hand that was trying to push him away.

He stopped and reluctantly let her go, panting in the process. Looking at her, with eyes filled with love, he noticed a pained expression on Elsa's face.

"Let's run away Elsa. You and I, together. I have an apartment a few blocks away from New Winston. We could settle there for a while. We'll, try to make it up to your parent for our—."

"Jack…" Elsa tried to call him out, but that wasn't enough to stop him from his constant blabbering.

"Not a good plan? Okay, how about, you call Tadashi and tell him you can't mar—!"

"Jack, please listen to me." Elsa tried weakly, but to no avail. The boy was too excited to even listen to her.

"—Oh! by the way that ring wasn't your wedding gift, it's the ring I would have proposed to you—"

"JACK!" Elsa finally cried in exasperation. She was breathing heavily, tears brimmed under her eyes as she clenched her teeth.

"I think we should stop here, Jack"

"Stop what?"

Jack looked at her with confusion visible in his eyes. What was she trying to imply here? A part of him was scared of what she would say next.

"I love you Jack, I love you as a best friend." She sobbed. but decided to continue anyways. The damage had already been done. There was no turning back now.

"The—the thing—you…you said, a while ago…that you wanted to have good memories of me. About…about how you would love to imagine me returning your feelings. I just…wanted to give you that feeling...before we part ways. I…I'm so sorry Ja—Jack." She stuttered, as she wept.

And the damage was done beyond repair.

Though she didn't have the strength to look up, she had to look at his face for one last time. The most heartbreaking moment took place, as she looked into his beautiful blue orbs.

He was devoid of any emotion.

Silence was their only companion for the time being. The sky was already blanketed by thick grey clouds. It was surely about to rain anytime. Elsa looked at the trees for any signs of comfort but to no avail. Even the most beautiful things present on the earth gave way to darkness, as if their existence didn't matter in the first place.

After mustering up some courage she decided to comfort him. She reached out to grab a hold of his arm and pressed it lightly.

Something snapped into Jack. He glowered at the certain hand that held his arm. Without thinking, he shoved her hard, as hard as he would have shoved anyone in his life.

He then turned around, so that he never got the chance to see Elsa's fall.

"GO TO HELL FOR ALL I CARE! You know what?! You're a witch! A devil that God created to torment others! You do deserve that guy after all! I wish I had never met you-you don't even deserve me. I regret meeting you when we were young! I regret every day: no, every moment of my life that I wasted on you! "

"Going to Law school was the best decision that I ever made_" He whimpered. He heard no response in return. Sniffing loudly, he wiped his stream of tears and went on with his ranting.

"I wish you'd die right now!"

And he was done with it. He had let all the anger and frustration that had built up throughout the course of his lifetime, out.

Closing his eyes, Jack tried to focus on his breathing

Inhale

Exhale

Pursing his lips, he shook his head. He looked at the sky. The first rays of sunlight emerged and fell on his car roof. It was time to go.

He turned around and finally faced Elsa.

"Let's g—ELSA!"

His eyes bulged out. The mere sight he saw in front of him was enough to break any strong person into pieces.

She laid there on the edge of the road, body sprawled on the twig filled forest ground. Her eyes, half open and half closed. She laid there peacefully with parted lips, as if she was in a very deep sleep. A sleep from which she never woke up.


End file.
